2011-10-15: Kilmarnock 3-3 Celtic, SPL

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Trivia

• Celtic come back from 3 down to draw 3-3. Rangers draw 1-1 home with St Mirren.
• First time since 2002 that Celtic have conceded three goals in the first half.
• Neil Lennon admits that he thought his job was up at half-time.
• Celtic AGM day before.
• Rumbles of discontent about Kayal with the management (wages etc).
• Stokes had the miss of the season from 1 yard out! But forgiven as hero for the recovery in this match.
• Memorial for Johnny Doyle held earlier.

Review

(jim 62 of KDS forum)
the first goal today…Cha lets a nothing long ball bounce ( a common fault this season with all our defenders)…Dan does nothing to help…but the whole midfield stand absolutely fecking still and watch Shiels run 30 yards to get in position to take the pass..

second goal was a yard offside…even Heffernan knew it…as soon as he put the ball in the net he turned to look for the flag…he was astonished not to see it

the third goal…Jesus wept!!!

our response…unbelievable…25 minutes of absolutely nothing in the second half..no urgency…no effort…..not a single chance created….

then we score from a free kick…Stokes then has another pot shot that goes in and it’s game on…

after the equaliser…when you would expect Celtic to turn the screw…ten minutes left to play…..the two best chances fall to Killie…how Heffernan missed the header I’ll never know…it was arguably the worst miss of the game….Stokes miss looked worse but slow mo replays show the ball took a hellish bobble just as it got to him…

Kayal should have been left in Israel….if you don’t want to try a leg just eff off…

Hooper made me pine for Samaras…although why he was left hobbling about for 30 minutes (and how the assault which injured him didn’t even attract a booking) are questions that others need to answer..

I’d like to think that the comeback and St Mirren getting a draw is a turning point….but I just cannot see this team under this manager putting a winning run together…

there is something very very wrong with my club just now…and someone needs to sort it out fast!!!

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Daily Telegraph

Kilmarnock 3 Celtic 3: match report

Celtic stormed back from a three-goal deficit against Kilmarnock to grab a share of the spoils in a remarkable Clydesdale Bank Premier League encounter at Rugby Park.

The Hoops looked down and out as Killie raced to an astonishing interval lead through Dean Shiels, Paul Heffernan and James Fowler.

However, the second half, if anything, was even more dramatic. Celtic striker Anthony Stokes scored twice in three minutes, the first from a free-kick in the 73rd minute, before stand-in skipper Charlie Mulgrew headed an equaliser from close range and save the visitors’ blushes.

Manager Neil Lennon would have settled for the point at half-time when his side were booed off the park but when the excitement dies down he will realise another two SPL points were dropped.

Killie might have sneaked it at the end but Heffernan missed the target from just a few yards out, but the home fans were simply glad they did not go home with nothing from a great afternoon’s entertainment.

Once again Lennon rung the changes, although one was enforced by the suspension of midfielder Kris Commons after being sent off in the last outing at Hearts.
Badr El-Kaddouri, Victor Wanyama and Mohamed Bangura all dropped to the bench, with Cha Du-ri, Joe Ledley, Beram Kayal and Stokes coming in.
Kenny Shiels’ Killie team also showed four changes with injured keeper Cameron Bell replaced by Anssi Jaakkola and Danny Buijs, Gary Harkins and Liam Kelly coming in for Zdenek Kroca, Gary Fisher and James Dayton, who were all among the substitutes.
With Stokes back alongside Gary Hooper in what many feel is the Parkhead side’s most potent strike force, Celtic fans were confident but they might have guessed at the horror which was to unfold in the first half when the Irishman missed a sitter after 12 minutes.
Right-back Cha galloped on to a perfectly-weighted James Forrest pass and cut the ball across the six-yard box only to see Stokes miss the target with the goal wide open.
But in truth, that incident did not hint at what was to come.
The game was stretched and open but there was still some surprise when Killie took the lead in the 26th minute through Shiels with an opener which owed much to route-one football.
Right-back Alex Pursehouse drove a long diagonal pass for Heffernan to chase into the Celtic box and he turned inside Hoops defender Daniel Majstorovic to set up the former Hibernian player, whose first touch gave him the space to drive low past Forster from 12 yards.
Celtic looked all over the place for the next few minutes and Forster had to dive low to his left to smother a Fowler drive after the visitors had been caught on the break.
In the 37th minute, in yet another Killie break, Forster had to fly high to his right to tip a long-range drive from Kelly over the bar for a corner, which came to nothing.
Five minutes from the break there was more drama when Shiels fired in a cross from wide on the left and Heffernan nipped in behind the static Parkhead defence to guide the ball past Forster from close range.
The Parkhead side were in disarray and in the final seconds of the half the strong-running Fowler raced on to a short headed back-pass from Mulgrew to lob the ball over Forster for number three.
It was a stunned Rugby Park who tried during the interval to digest what they had just witnessed in the first 45 minutes.
Lennon replaced Hooper, who appeared to have taken a knock, with Bangura while Wanyama came on for the excitable Kayal, who had picked up a booking and was treading on thin ice.
The home fans, nervous despite such a commanding lead, awaited a Celtic backlash but while there was a predictable determination from the visitors they were still leaving gaps at the back.
Celtic, though, kept pushing for the goal which they hoped would spark a comeback and Jaakkola made a decent save from Cha’s angled drive before Kaddouri came on for Cha.
And in the 73rd minute, after Killie defender Mo Sissoko was booked for a foul on Forrest 25 yards from goal, Stokes hammered the free-kick high past Jaakkola to give the Hoops the lifeline they needed.
Three minutes later, as the visitors piled on the pressure, Stokes turned and fired a low drive from 30 yards past Jaakkola for his second – and there was more drama soon to follow.
In the 79th minute Mulgrew made up for his first-half error when he headed in the equaliser from a yard out after Majstorovic had knocked a long free-kick from Ki back across the goal.
The final moments could not have been more tense and with two minutes remaining Heffernan missed a sitter with his head after he had been set up by Harkins six yards out, the Killie striker lifting the ball over the bar.

Kilmarnock3-3Celtic

Page last updated at 13:28 GMT, Saturday, 15 October 2011 14:28 UK By Annie McGuire
BBC Sport Scotland Mulgrew (right) equalised for Celtic against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park Celtic fought back from a three-goal deficit to snatch a share of the points in a dramatic match at Rugby Park.
First-half goals from Dean Shiels, Paul Heffernan and James Fowler had given the home side an emphatic half-time lead.
But Celtic fought back through two goals within three minutes from Anthony Stokes and a Charlie Mulgrew header with 10 minutes remaining.
Heffernan squandered a late chance for Kilmarnock to steal the points.
Neil Lennon had spoken of the need to make personnel changes after their loss to Hearts and dropped Badr El-Kaddouri, Victor Wanyama and Mohamed Bangura, with Cha Du-ri, Joe Ledley, Beram Kayal and Anthony Stokes coming in.
The home side also made four changes, with goalkeeper Cammy Bell not included in the squad because of an elbow injury and replaced with Anssi Jaakkola. Fowler (right) had put Kilmarnock three goals ahead at half time It was the home side who started more brightly, Celtic struggling to break down their impressive passing display.
But it was the visitors who had the first real chance of the match in the 12th minute.
James Forrest delivered the ball to Cha, who picked out the Irishman at the back post, Stokes unable to make any meaningful contact with the ball from just a yard out and sending the ball over the crossbar.
Kilmarnock continued to look the livelier side and their effort was rewarded in the 26th minute, Shiels’ goal coming with the first shot on target by either side.
Right-back Alex Pursehouse sent an ambitious long ball that located Heffernan on the left wing, and his chip found the run of Shiels, who took a deft touch before driving the ball diagonally across goal and past Fraser Forster in the Celtic net from 12 yards out.
With Celtic clearly rattled, Kilmarnock continued to dominate, Liam Kelly almost increasing the lead in the 37th minute with a long-range shot from 40 yards out that forced Forster to tip the ball over the bar.
Paul Heffernan extended their lead just two minutes later, with Shiels the creator.
The Kilmarnock manager’s son burst into space to evade Cha before slotting the ball through to Heffernan, who looked a touch offside as he drove home from inside the box.
Celtic then appeared to self-destruct as they lost a third goal. Mulgrew was at fault with a hapless pass-back to Forster that was pounced on by Fowler, who lobbed the ball over the goalkeeper.
That scoreline meant changes for Celtic in the second half, with Gary Hooper and Beram Kayal replaced by Wanyama and Bangura.
Their resurgence was signalled 10 minutes after the restart, with Forrest waltzing through the Kilmarnock defence. He was eventually dispossessed by Kelly, Pursehouse blocking a second attempt on goal.
With 69 minutes on the clock, Forrest again attempted to set up Stokes at the back post, the striker unable to match the pace of the ball and sending it behind for a goal kick.
However, he was given the opportunity to make amends when Kilmarnock conceded a free-kick 26 yards from goal, delivering a superb strike that gave Jaakola no chance.
Within three minutes, the game was reignited when Stokes grabbed a second. A right-footed strike from 22 yards out evaded the Kilmarnock keeper, who perhaps should have done better.
Kilmarnock’s undoing was completed when Mulgrew headed home from close range with 10 minutes remaining to complete an incredible comeback that saw three goals in seven minutes.
The Rugby Park side had the chance to snatch victory when Heffernan contrived to head over the crossbar from four yards out with two minutes remaining of regulation time.